Embodiments of the present patent disclosure relate generally to media player systems, devices, and methods employing smart headphones, and, in specific embodiments, to a gesture based smart headphone.
In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number of audio devices used for work and entertainment. Such audio devices include, but are not limited to, MP3 players; portable computing devices, such as laptops; personal digital assistants, cell phones, smart phones such as Blackberry devices, portable gaming devices; personal computers, gaming platforms; TVs, DVD players. The audio devices generally can have a headphone or earphone attached to them to augment input or output characteristics of the devices.
For example, a portable music player or a smart phone with music playing module, hereinafter referred to in general as audio device, is often used with headphones, which include one or two speakers. Headphones generally include an audio interface to the devices for receiving an audio output signal, which is then carried over a cord integrated with the audio interface to the speakers integrated with the cord at the other end.
A user usually starts playback of a playlist by interacting with a user interface of the audio device, and then stores the portable media player in a bag, a pocket. However, during the course of these tasks, the user may need to adjust the playback characteristics, including but not limited to the following: changing or muting volume levels, pausing playback, or skipping forward or backward.
This may turn out to be cumbersome. The user must retrieve the portable media player from the bag or pocket, interact with the device, and replace the player, such interaction necessarily interrupts any other tasks they are performing. In addition, the user may be distracted from another more important task, and the longer the distraction, the more likely it is that the other important task being performed by the user will be disrupted.
To alleviate these disadvantages, a physical remote that is located on headphone cord has been provided in prior art. However, the physical remote still has numerous disadvantages. These problems include: the physical remote is out of the line of sight of the user most of the time and therefore is difficult to interact with, for example, it is difficult to find which button raises the playback volume without having to look at the remote; the physical remote is no longer accessible if worn under layers of clothing or in the bag or pocket; the physical remote is a bulky mechanical apparatus which ruins the aesthetic simplicity of conventional headphones; and the physical remote may be uncomfortable to wear while moving, since it is suspended on wire, for example, it taps against the user's body while walking.
Other proposed solutions include a prototype touch headphone to control the different functions of the headphone when earpieces are being tapped on.
Accordingly, there is a need for a headphone to provide gesturer based control functions without a physical remote or a user interface on the audio device.